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"I still believe in the possibility of Islam being true, for me the truth is either Islam or Atheism."

John W. Loftus offers a test called "The outsider test for faith" where you examine your religion as someone who is a believer in another religion. For example, how do you know that Christianity is not more valid than Islam? What is the criteria you use? If you apply those same criteria to Islam does it hold up?

Examining religions on equal merit is something which leads many to bypass their bias. Questioning why you are the same religion as your parents instead of a Buddhist or a Sikh or a Christian and noting the fact that nearly everyone sincerely believes that the religion of their parents is the one true religion is a way of thinking outside the box.

I have to agree. The fact is, though, that I was taught Christianity from birth and I was taught that to question it or the fact that it makes no sense would doom me to hell. Is it so different in Islam?

Do you think that Islam makes more sense because you were taught it from birth? Or do you think that Islam makes more sense because you'd studied all the other world religions and come to the conclusion that Islam is rational and consistent with reality while the rest are not?

I did my study, read the bible and to be honest Islam is the only religion that made sense to me followed by Judaism, Christianity sounded to me like a poorly made up religion, Hinduism I felt it might be a corrupt vision of a true religion in the past(like Christianity), Buddhism doesn't even have specific God they have many local Gods depending where you live.

Christians in the US would say the same thing about Islam. In other words, the Christians believe that Christianity is the only religion that makes sense and think that Islam sounds like a poorly made up religion. I think people of most religions feel this way. People believe their religion makes sense because it was the religion they were taught was true from the time they were a child.

Hello. I may be wrong in this, but I interpret your postings on this site as a continuation of your efforts to work through your doubts and questions in an attempt to arrive at your ultimate "belief" system. I applaud that.

But I do have a question, based on your last comment that for you, the truth is either Islam or atheism (atheism doesn't require capitalization, not actually being a belief system but more of thought process).

Islam and atheism are about as far apart as two mindsets can possibly be. Islam depends absolutely on infusing every facet of life with the god-story - including the creation myth (sorry, couldn't think of a better word) and its attendant end-of-times scenario. Islam demands that every choice you make and every action you take be made with god's "instructions" in mind. Everything, from how you dress to what you eat to how you interract with friends and family, is guided by the Quran and is based on an absolute belief that god is looking out for you and pointing you in the right direction. On the other hand, atheism is nothing more than an absence of belief in any kind of supernatural creator/ruler/watcher/owner-of-life-and-the-universe. Atheism lets US decide what the meaning of our lives is to be and it lets US decide what the value of our lives is to be. Atheism puts the responsibility for our behaviors and our choices in our hands, while Islam puts only the choice about whether or not to follow god's rules in your hands.

We (atheists) own our lives. Islamics don't. That's a huge difference. What led you to the point where these two absolute opposites seem to to be the only viable possibilities? I wonder if it's that you are able to see the absurditities in Christianity and whatever other religions you examined because you were distant enough from them but that you may not be able to see the equally absurd premises behind Islam because you're just not far enough away from it to see it clearly. What do you think?

I made this thread something like 7 months ago. Many things happened to my life in the last 12 months( I arrived to Canada 11 months ago, and I've been here ever since). I'm not really sure which one of my posts are you replying to. I'm an agnostic atheist now, I don't believe in any god, but I wouldn't be surprised if we discovered civilized or uncivilized aliens.

Whats the deal with sharia law? I've heard that if passed it would allow women to be stoned and killed for adultry or even looking at other men and that homosexuals are executed? Are you committing treason by even questioning islam? It is apparent my view of Saudi culture is distorted but thats why I'm asking.

well it works for both men and women, if you are married and had sex with someone else then you are stoned(4 eye witnesses are needed) if you had sex and you're a single then 80 lashes (again 4 eye witnesses) as for homosexual, if there were 4 eye witnesses who saw a man having sex with a man then they are executed.(2 women eye witnesses count as 1).
but there are no punishments for looking at the opposite sex

I talked to many shiekhs about questioning Islam and they offered help, I don't think I committed treason for doing that.

Yeah people support sharia law because they believe its divine laws and human made laws are no match to the divine ones, I think American movies and media had many impacts on the people here but it probably didn't change a thing in their religious views.

We have people who call themselves "liberals" who want smaller sharia law and some even want secularism but this group is very small and I don't like them because they are hypocrites and don't even know the basic principles of liberalism, like tolerance and free speech.